If Only
by Kkarrie
Summary: If only he hadn't been so concerned with his hair or the report on his desk. If only he'd taken the department issue, not a cab. If only he hadn't been ten minutes too late. An AU 3XK fic.
1. Chapter 1

AN: This is a fic idea I've had bouncing around in my head ever since the first 3XK episode. I know that the continuation of that story line is airing next week, but this is my interpretation of what I think would happen when the 3XK comes back. This would be considered AU, but everything up to Heroes and Villains is fair game.

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Kevin Ryan shut the door on his locker and paused by the mirror to check his hair and straighten his tie before heading upstairs to his desk. He grabbed the phone off the hook and dialed the well known number. Cradling the receiver between his shoulder and his ear, Ryan looked through the paperwork on his desk. He had painstakingly cleared it off that morning, since he would be gone for the next two weeks on his honeymoon, but through out the day more and more paperwork had made its way there. The phone rang for a third time and then Jenny answered.

"This had better be Javier calling, because Kevin is supposed to be picking me up in five minutes." Jenny's voice was stern, but teasing.

"Jenny, it's me, sorry, I had to grab something from work before I left." Ryan was apologizing. "I promise I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Kev, it's fine." He could hear the grin on her face. "We've got the rest of our lives to spend together; I think I can forgive you for being a few minutes late."

"You think?" Ryan smiled. It was the night of their rehearsal dinner, he was picking up Jenny and then they were going to the church and they would walk through everything and then have dinner with their friends.

"Don't make me break up with you," Jenny threatened him. "Oh, I have to go, there's someone at the door. I bet it's Mr. Simon from down the hall again."

"I wish he would realize that his cat is always in the laundry room and that cats can't open door knobs and escape into the hall." Ryan shook his head and checked his watch. "Give me ten minutes and I'll be there." Ryan promised her. "I love you."

"I'll hold you to that ten minutes. Love you, too." She replied and the hung up.

"Bro, you need to get going." Javier Esposito reminded his partner as Kevin started going through the papers on his desk again. "Whatever you have on your desk, I'll take care of it."

"Are you sure?" Ryan glanced at him.

"I'm sure. What else is a best man for? Now go, you've got that 'til death do you part stuff to memorize."

"Thanks, Javi, I owe you one!" Ryan called over his shoulder and he ran for the elevator.

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Traffic was a nightmare as usual, Ryan almost wished that he had taken his department issue so he could have fired up the gumball and gotten through faster. Not that it would have helped much.

He tapped his fingers against his leg and when the taxi stopped at the third red light, he pulled out his cell phone and called Jenny. The phone rang a half dozen times before going to voice mail. Ryan frowned and dialed again. The phone went to voice mail after six rings for a second time, and when Ryan redialed, a third. He was beginning to get worried. There was no reason why she wouldn't be answering her phone.

He glanced out the window at the street signs. He was only eight blocks from her apartment building.

"Pull over here," Ryan told the cabbie.

"Pull over here? We're a hella long ways from where you said you wanted to go?" The cabbie looked back at him in the rear view mirror.

"Just pull over," Ryan shouted at him and as soon as the car was stopped, Ryan shoved a twenty into the man's hand and started running down the street.

He reached Jenny's apartment and the doorman let him in. Ryan tried calling her phone again, but there was no answer. He sprinted for the stairs, flashing his badge as the doorman yelled after him to slow down.

Jenny's apartment was on the fifth floor. He rounded the last flight of stairs and headed down the hall to apartment 5D. He knocked, calling her name, but there was no answer. He fished on his keyring for the key to her place and shoved it in the lock.

Dozens of worse case scenarios had been playing through Ryan's mind as he had been running, but nothing could have prepared him for this. His Jenny was lying on the floor of her apartment, between the entry way and the living room.

She was wearing the dress she'd gotten for tonight and her purse was clutched in her hand. Her legs were askew and her hair was fanned out underneath her. She looked almost angelic.

Ryan's immediate instinct was to rush to her side, but even before he knelt down next to her, he knew it was too late. Her dress was a soft blue-green color that Ryan had loved so much, but the color was marred by two holes that would have gone through her heart. He felt the tears welling up inside, and unconsciously he grabbed for her hand. It had only been thirty minutes at the most since he had hung up the phone at the station.

A small voice inside him told him to call 911. Ryan called, he knew he was babbling to the operator, but he couldn't pull himself together to make sense at the moment. The operator asked if Ryan wanted her to stay on the line and Ryan said no; he needed to be alone before the apartment was crawling with CSU and uniformed officers.

The first thing Ryan heard was the sound of sirens outside the building, that was followed by the shouting of his partner from the hallway.

Esposito burst through the door, looking extremely tense. He flinched when he saw Jenny and paused for a second. Then he shook himself and focused on Ryan.

"Kev," he said softly. His partner was sitting on his knees, holding Jenny's hand and staring downwards. "Kevin," his voice was louder this time. It seemed to bring Ryan out of his haze.

"Esposito?" He sounded confused.

"I heard Jenny's address on the scanner and I got here as soon as I could." Javier wasn't touching anything, but set about memorizing every detail of the apartment.

"Ryan, Esposito?" Beckett's worried voice came through the cracked door.

"In here, Beckett," Esposito responded, still looking around the apartment carefully.

Beckett came in followed by a uniformed officer and two CSU techs. "Oh, Ryan," the detective murmured softly. She exchanged a look with Esposito and then the two of them were all business. They would need to bag Ryan's clothes, take his statement and get the M.E. down as soon as possible.

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They had to wait until CSU had cleared the living room before Beckett could sit down with Ryan and get a statement. He was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt that Esposito had brought from Ryan's locker at the station.

It had only been an hour since the police had arrived, but the detective looked like he had aged ten years. He was staring at his hands as Beckett pulled out her notebook.

"Kevin," Beckett felt a little odd saying the detective's first name, but it seemed to be the only thing that got his attention. "I need you to tell me what happened."

Ryan let out a slow breath, steadying himself. "I was coming over to pick up Jenny before the rehearsal dinner and-" his eyes widened. "Oh, god, the dinner, everyone is there." He looked up in panic.

Beckett held up her hands to calm him down. "We have that under control." She told him. "You came over to pick up Jenny." She prompted him to continue.

He nodded, "I called on my way, because I was running late and she didn't answer. I got worried, I don't know why, but I just had this gut feeling. I got out of the cab eight blocks from here and started running. I went up the stairs and when I let myself in..." He glanced behind him, where Perlmutter was examining Jenny's body and gave an involuntary shudder.

"Did you see anyone else in the apartment?"

Ryan shook his head. "No, no one was here. I called 911 and then I don't remember anything until you guys got here."

Castle quietly came over and sat down beside Beckett. He had been the one who had called the rehearsal dinner attendees. They were all Jenny and Ryan's friends and family and it had been the hardest thing Castle had done while shadowing Beckett.

"Ryan, can you think of anyone who would have wanted to hurt Jenny?" Beckett asked.

Ryan shook his head. "Jenny's just so sweet and nice and funny and no one hated her." His voice caught in his throat and he blinked furiously to keep the tears from falling.

"Do you have a place to stay for the night?"

Ryan looked around the apartment and slowly shook his head.

"I don't want you to be alone," Beckett told him. "Not as a cop, but as your friend." She added softly, putting a hand on his knee.

"I'll stay with him." Esposito said, from where he was leaning against the door frame.

"You can both stay at my apartment. The guest room is empty." Castle told them.

Ryan nodded numbly and stood, looking down at the socks on his feet and wondering briefly where the hell his shoes were.

Lanie came up to them. She gave Ryan a small hug and briefly held on when she felt him almost collapse on her. "It'll be okay," she whispered and squeezed his shoulder as she helped him sit back down.

"So, you're both coming with me," Castle looked between Ryan and Esposito.

"Hang on a minute, Castle." Lanie looked sick to her stomach. "Prelim on the bullets has them coming from a 9mil."

"So? Most of the country carries a 9mil." Esposito frowned.

"I carry a 9mil," Ryan murmured.

The rest of them exchanged worried glances over Ryan's head.

Beckett pulled Esposito aside. "He'll have to go down to the station," she whispered to him. "Internal Affairs is going to have a field day with this."

"Don't you think he's been through enough?" Esposito asked her. "IA can stuff it and wait until tomorrow morning."

Beckett shook her head. "It'll be better for everyone if we get this done now. They can run a GSR test and check ballistics on his gun. We'll put a rush on things."

"Beckett, the man just lost a woman who was basically his wife." Esposito scowled.

"You know and I know that he didn't do it," Beckett whispered fiercely. "But IA is going to crawl all over this and if everyone cooperates they'll have nothing to complain about."

Esposito was still scowling, but nodded. "I'll take him over."

Beckett gave a nod and motioned for Castle to come over as Esposito left to take Ryan to the station.

"Esposito will take care of Ryan." Beckett told the writer. "You should just go home. IA won't be done until the morning and until then it'll be best if Ryan stays at the precinct."

"I'm coming to the station," Castle insisted.

"Castle," Beckett used her cop voice. "at least one of us needs to get sleep tonight. If there's anything you can do to help I'll let you know."

"Beckett," Castle started to argue.

Beckett held up her hand to keep him from continuing. "We're doing this by the book."

Castle opened his mouth to object and then sighed and nodded. He watched Beckett head out the door with Esposito and Ryan.


	2. Chapter 2

Ryan sat in the conference room for hours. No one was there with him; they were all scrambling around trying to figure out if he had shot Jenny. His Jenny. Every time Ryan thought about her name he had to clench his hands to keep himself from punching the table.

He could see Beckett, Esposito, even the Captain glancing at him through the window. They looked worried.

It was like they were taking turns watching him. Beckett would get a file and then Esposito would vanish down the stairs, then Montgomery would come to talk to Beckett. It was frustrating, but it wasn't what Kevin was concerned with at the moment.

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Montgomery gave Ryan another quick glance and then turned to Beckett. "We need to catch whoever did this. It's more than just a homocide, it points to one of our own."

"Yes, sir," Beckett nodded. "Esposito is sitting on the lab until they get him the report on the bullets."

"Just got them," Esposito walked over, also glancing at Ryan and quickly turned his attention back to the file when Ryan met his eyes. "I figured you would want to look at them." He couldn't look at Beckett as he handed the file to her.

Beckett frowned and then looked at the results. "The bullets are a match Ryan's sidearm-"

"Detective?" Montgomery's shocked voice interupted her.

"The sidearm that was reported stolen by Jerry Tyson, the 3XK last year." Beckett finished, her grip tightening causing her hand to crumple the folder slightly.

Esposito let out a slow breath. "You know Ryan's been hard on himself over that night."

"This is going to make it even worse." Beckett nodded.

"What's going to make it worse?" Castle joined them, holding a tray with four coffees in it. "I figured you guys could use some."

"Thanks, Castle." Beckett gladly accepted her cup, almost glad to see the writer.

"Plus, I couldn't sleep." Castle admited. "Did you find out anything?"

"The 9mil used was the one that was stolen last year by Jerry Tyson."

Castle unconciously rubbed the back of his head. "So you think the 3XK is behind this?"

Beckett nodded grimly. "Unless he dumped the gun and somebody found it and just happened to shoot Jenny."

"Have you told him yet?" Castle looked to where Ryan was in the conference room, he was watching them all with a slight annoyance on his face.

"We were just about to," Montgomery said.

"Sir, I will," Beckett set her coffee down.

The captain held up a hand. "No, this is something I need to handle. We're doing this by the book, detective."

"If it wasn't Ryan's gun then IA has to let him go, right?" Esposito asked as Montgomery slipped into the conference room.

"They have nothing to hold him on." Beckett agreed. "Go see if you can find some more clothes for Ryan. I doubt he'll want to wear those sweats tomorrow."

"Will do," Esposito nodded and headed for the locker room, continuing to watch Ryan in the conference room.

Castle checked his watch. "Last time I came home at four in the morning I had a blonde with me, not two detectives."

"Just make sure they get some sleep. Both of them." Beckett told him, fighting a yawn. "Esposito won't be worth anything if he doesn't get some sleep."

"You need sleep, too." Castle gave her a worried look.

"I know, Castle." Beckett snapped at him. "I'm not looking for a lecture."

Castle's look changed to apologetic, but before he could say anything the door to the conference room opened.

Ryan's face was red and splotchy from crying, but the emotion was gone from his face.

"My guest room is free," Castle said quietly as Esposito joined them carrying a duffle.

"You left some jeans in the bottom of your locker, bro." He said quietly handing over the bag.

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The cab ride to Castle's apartment was dead silent. The elevator ride up to the penthouse was also dead silent. Ryan still hadn't said a word when Castle showed him the guest room.

"I guess you'll have to sleep on the couch," Castle murmured to Esposito after he shut the door.

"I'm not sleeping."

"Beckett said you need to."

"I'm not sleeping." Esposito grabbed the arm chair from by the couch and dragged it over closer to the door.

"Why are you doing that?" Castle asked.

"Because if I were in Ryan's place, I wouldn't be in a guest room sleeping. I'd be out trying to track down the bastard who did killed my fiance." Esposito sat down in the chair. "You should get some sleep though."

"We all keep telling each other to get some sleep, but none of us really want to do that." Castle shook his head. "I'll be in the office." He headed down the hall to his study, shutting the door behind him.

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Ryan stared at the red numbers on the clock next to the bed. It had been four-thirty by the time they'd gotten back to the loft and now it was almost six. He knew the jeans and shoes that Javier had pulled from his locker were sitting in the bag on the floor. He knew he had his cell phone. He knew he had his badge and his gun as well. Since none of the evidence pointed to Ryan any more he had been allowed to keep them.

Twenty-four hours ago life had seemed perfect. He'd just gotten up to get ready for work. He and Jenny had stopped for coffee and bagels on his way to work. She had taken the day off and was going to be meeting with her maid of honor for last minute wedding things. What if Ryan had taken the day off as well? Maybe he could have stopped this from happening. When Montgomery had told Ryan that the gun used was the gun the 3XK had taken last year something in Ryan had snapped. Grief had taken a backseat to the emotions swirling around in his head now. He could go out right now, while everyone was asleep. He had enough contacts in the drug world; he would be able to find Jerry Tyson and... Ryan paused, what would he do? Arresting the guy didn't seem like enough, but Ryan knew that Jenny wouldn't want him to lose his job over this. Without Jenny, all Ryan had was his job.

He pushed that question aside. That was something to be dealt with when he found the 3XK. He got up and quietly slipped on the jeans and the shoes. He clipped his badge to his belt and checked his gun. Then he checked to see if the coast was clear.

The living room was pitch black thanks to Castle's heavy drapes, but Ryan figured he could remember the layout to sneak out.

He made it halfway across the room when a light turned on.

"Where are you going, bro?" Esposito was standing between Ryan and the door.

"Move Javi," Ryan spoke for the first time since his interview with IA.

"I can't do that." Esposito crossed his arms. "You need some sleep."

"I can't sleep, not knowing that he's out there." Ryan's voice cracked slightly, but he didn't back down.

"Kevin, I will handcuff you to that bed if I have to."

"I'd like to see you try." Ryan unconsciously clenched his fist. Esposito took a step forward. "I swear, Javi, I will punch you."

"You have to trust us, Kev. Beckett and Castle and I will find him."

"And what? Arrest him? No, he doesn't deserve that." Ryan was fighting tears again. "Today wasn't supposed to be this way. We were getting married. Tomorrow morning I would have been on a plane to Europe for our honeymoon." His voice was getting louder with every statement.

"I'm sorry-" Esposito began.

"Sorry? Why are you sorry, you didn't kill her." Ryan could feel the tears falling now. "If I had been on time. If I hadn't touched those files on my desk."

Esposito took another step forward and put a hand on Ryan's shoulder. "It isn't your fault."

"Like hell it isn't," Ryan shrugged him off. "I could have stopped Tyson last year, but I didn't and now I have to find him." Ryan tried to push past him, but Esposito stood his ground. He pushed Kevin back towards the couch.

"I'm not letting you go out there. It isn't-" Esposito didn't get the words out before Ryan threw his first punch. It missed, but Esposito was thrown off balance. He backed up to stay standing, and knocked over one of the lamps in the room. It hit the floor with a crash. Esposito blocked the punch that followed that and tried to get a grip on Ryan's wrists. They tussled, each landing a few blows. Esposito heard more glass break, probably a picture frame.

"Hey! That's my favorite picture!" Castle had come out of his study and saw the two detective's fighting. The overhead lights went on and the writer quickly crossed the room to pull the two of them apart off of each other.

"Richard, what is going on." Martha was standing on the landing, her arm around Alexis' shoulders. Both of their faces were a mixture of confusion and shock.

Castle glanced up at them. "I'll explain later. Can you both please wait upstairs?"

Martha nodded and ushered Alexis back to her room.

Castle turned his attention back to the two men on his couch. Esposito was dabbing at a cut on his lip. Ryan was sitting on the other end of the couch. His head buried in his hands, shoulders shaking as the tears overwhelmed him again.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Sorry for the long space inbetween updates! School got the best of me this semester and I had to put some things on the back burner. This coming semester will be easier and I hope to keep up with this

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It had taken a few minutes for Ryan to control his breathing again. Esposito and Castle had just sat and waited for the detective to regain his composure. They managed to convince Ryan to go and take a shower to clean up a little bit.

While Ryan was in the shower Esposito had gotten a call from Beckett. IA was irritated that Ryan had been allowed to go home the night before and they were making up for lost time by questioning Esposito about being the first responder to the scene, as well as, Ryan's partner.

"IA is just pissed," Esposito argued over the phone with Beckett. "Tell them to shove it; I'm taking care of my partner." He was scowled as Beckett reminded him that they wanted everything to go as smoothly as possible.

"I'll take care of him." Castle said quietly as Esposito hung up the phone. "I'll take him to the station when he gets done."

"I know," Esposito let out a sigh and nodded. "I just feel like I need to help him, but right now-"

"You feel like there's nothing you can do," Castle finished. "That's exactly how I feel too. But you can help him by finding Tyson."

Esposito nodded again. "Beckett will call again if I don't leave," he muttered, hand on the door knob, hesitating again.

"I'll take care of him." Castle repeated.

The moment Esposito let the door shut behind him, Martha Rodgers was rushing down the stairs.

"Richard, what is going on?" Her voice was full of concern as she watched her son stare at the closed front door. "The only thing you said last night is that something happened with Detective Ryan and Jenny."

"Where's Alexis?" Castle looked around for his daughter.

"Getting ready for school. What is going on? Why are they here and why were they fighting in the living room."

Castle slowly sunk down to sit on the edge of the couch. "Ryan went to pick up Jenny last night and found her dead in her apartment."

"Oh, Richard," Martha sank down next to him.

"All the evidence leads to Jerry Tyson." Castle murmured. "Beckett's at the station; I'm sure she's been there all night. Esposito just went to help her and as soon as Ryan's out of the shower I need to join them."

"Richard, Jerry Tyson is a dangerous man. Detective Beckett will find him."

"Mother, you didn't see Ryan yesterday at the apartment. He was completely lost. He sees that type of crime scene every day, but he was lost." Castle closed his eyes and tried to banish the images that were swarming through his brain.

Martha gave him a hug. "I just want you to be safe."

"I'll be safe while I help them find Tyson." He promised her.

"Is there anything you need from me?"

"Just take care of Alexis." Castle let go of her and stood when he heard the guest room door open.

"Where's Javi?" Ryan asked the moment he was in the living room.

"At the station. I'm supposed to take you there." Castle tried to keep everything as normal as possible. Ryan gave a slight nod and headed for the door. Castle waved good-bye and followed the detective out into the hall.

"That poor boy," Martha whispered after them. "He's going through hell."

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Ryan sat in silence as they took a cab to the 12th. He knew what would happen when he got there. Everyone would stare at him as he walked through the halls. A few brave ones would tell him how sorry they were. He clenched his hands in his lap as he thought about the sympathy.

"Beckett and Esposito are probably fighting with IA," Castle said as they stopped at a light, trying to break the silence in the car. "Do you want to stop for coffee?" He turned to look at Ryan. The detective was staring out the window.

"No," Ryan said shortly, to hell with coffee. He wanted to get to the station as quickly as possible.

They drove for another couple minutes and when they stopped at the next light, Ryan was still looking out the window.

"Are you sure on the coffee?" Castle turned, but Ryan didn't respond, he pushed open the door of the cab and started running.

"Ryan!" Castle panicked for a moment. He opened his door and was going to give chase when the cabbie grabbed his sleeve.

"Buddy, no cab and dash!" He yelled.

Castle grabbed a bill out of his wallet, he had no idea what the denomination was, but since the cabbie let him go it must have been enough. He could barely see Ryan running down the block ahead of hm.

Ryan skidded to a halt at the corner and Castle nearly bowled him over when he caught up.

"What are you doing? Why did you run?" Castle gasped out between breaths.

"He was there!" Ryan was scanning the crowd in every direction. "I saw him!"

"Who?" Castle was leaning on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

"Tyson, he was right here." Ryan was pacing back and forth, not focusing on any part of the crowd for more than a millisecond before turning and looking the other way.

"Jerry Tyson?" Castle couldn't keep the disbelief out of his voice. "What would Jerry Tyson be doing on the street corner?"

"I don't know," Ryan snapped, "but it was him!" He ran a hand through his hair. "Maybe he went that way," Ryan pointed back down the street back towards Castle's apartment.

"Kevin," Castle said gently, "we need to get to the station."

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"He just bolted?" Montgomery asked Castle.

Castle glanced out the window where Ryan was sitting at his desk, his knee bouncing impatiently. The writer nodded, "he said he saw Tyson."

"Did you?" Montgomery fixed Castle with a stare.

Castle glanced over at Beckett and shook his head. "No,"

"Sir, I'll keep an eye on Ryan." Beckett assured him. "Esposito and I-"

Montgomery held up a hand to stop her. "Beckett, you know that I want to find this bastard and catch him, but I'm afraid after Ryan's actions in Castle's loft last night and bolting out of a taxi this morning I can't afford to let him out on the street. If he wants to help, he can help from here."

"Sir, that's," Beckett stopped herself. She glanced over to Castle. "Sir, Ryan won't be happy with that."

"I'm not here to make him happy." Montgomery told her. "I'm here to make sure he doesn't ruin his life."

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Esposito was sitting at his desk, coffee in his hands. He had made two cups, but Ryan hadn't touched his. It was sitting on the Irishman's desk.

"Bro," Esposito swiveled in his chair and faced Ryan.

Ryan glanced over to him, tearing his gaze away from the door to Montgomery's office.

"About this morning," Esposito began.

"I'm sorry I punched you," Ryan mumbled, finally reaching for his coffee.

Esposito shrugged. "It's not like you could have hurt me that badly," he tried to make light of the bruise that would probably be forming on his jaw tomorrow.

"He was there, Javi," Kevin shakily set down his coffee. "I know Castle doesn't believe me, but I saw him. He was standing on the side of the street and I looked over and met his eyes and then the bastard grinned."

"We'll get him," Esposito promised. "You're family and Beckett will do anything for family."

At the mention of family, Ryan's stomach churned. "I have to see her parents today," Ryan whispered.

"It'll be okay, bro," Esposito put a hand on his shoulder. "You go talk to them and we'll go out and find Tyson."

Ryan gave a slow shaky nod. His head snapped as Beckett came out of Montgomery's office on her cell phone with Castle behind her.

Beckett moved the phone away from her mouth. "Espo, we've got security footage back from the building across the street. You ready for some dumpster diving?"

Esposito nodded, not even making a quip about roadkill and followed them out the door.

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"How is he?" Beckett asked as they trudged their way up the alley between Jenny's apartment building and the office building next door. The mood was tense. It was like a cloud had settled over all of them.

Esposito shrugged, "same as he was last night. He needs to find Tyson and then he can start moving forward with healing."

"That's assuming it was Tyson," Castle said as Esposito hoisted himself up to look into the dumpster. They'd gotten a clear picture on the security footage of a man wearing a hoodie running down the alley right after Jenny had gotten off the phone with Ryan. He had tossed something in the dumpster and Beckett was hoping whatever it was would still be there.

"What do you mean, assuming it was Tyson?" Esposito frowned. "He's the one who took Ryan's gun."

"He could have sold it to anyone," Castle pointed out.

"Just anyone wouldn't have forced themselves into Jenny's apartment, shot her and left without taking anything." Esposito said coldly.

Beckett gave him a warning look. "You find anything yet?"

The Latino ducked his head and started gingerly pulling back trash. "I don't have any gloves, I'm not gonna risk getting infected because I forgot gloves."

"You forgot them, I didn't." Castle handed over a pair of blue latex gloves. He donned his own pair. "C'mon, if we find enough change I'll buy you a latte." He pulled himself up the side of the dumpster.

It was almost a half hour before Castle saw the bottom of the dumpster. He knew exactly which takeout places the employees at the law office across from Jenny's building liked. He knew what kind of toilet paper they bought. He was ready to just let forensics come and comb the place when Esposito stood up and called Beckett over from where she was sweeping the rest of the alley.

He wiped an arm across his forehead. "It's Ryan's badge." He held it out for her to see. The once shiny metal was tarnished and dirty, but the lettering of a NYPD detective's badge was unmistakable.

"Why would he use the gun and toss the badge?" Castle wondered out loud.

"We'll get forensics to comb through the rest of the dumpsters." Beckett said, staring down the alley. "What kind of building is that?" She pointed at the other end of the block.

Esposito squinted, "That's the new sushi place that went in a few months ago. Pretty good."

"Would they have a camera at the loading dock?" Beckett was walking slowly towards the dock.

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The owner of the sushi place was a friendly looking man in his 50's named Ben Kamida. He was more than willing to talk to them when Beckett and Esposito flashed their badges.

"We'd like to take a look at your security camera footage," Beckett told him.

"Yes, yes, detective, I was told to give that to you and to give this to Mr. Castle." Kamida pulled a white envelope out from behind the counter.

"Told?" Esposito frowned.

Castle pulled another glove from his pocket and gingerly took the envelope from man. "To me?"

The owner nodded. "Yes, two days ago a man came in and said Mr. Castle was researching a new book and I would play a great part in it." He beamed proudly and Castle noticed for the first time the stack of Derrick Storm novels sitting by the register. "He gave me the envelope and told me to give you and your detective friends whatever you might ask for."

"Can you describe him?"

The owner nodded again. "Most certainly, I have a mind for faces." He grinned, not understanding the gravity of the situation.

"Mr. Kamida, a woman is dead and we're looking for her killer." Beckett didn't return the smile. "We need the security footage and we need you to come down to the station with us to talk to a sketch artist."


End file.
